Solar panels will line up next to toasters and dishwashers for sale on the British high street for the first time today, after Currys announced a pilot scheme to sell the green technology in its stores.

Branches in West Thurrock, Essex, and Fulham and Croydon, London, will stock the panels. A typical £9,000 system, with nine panels, can generate about 40% of an average household's annual electricity demand, cut bills and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by two tonnes a year. Currys said soaring electricity prices and greater environmental awareness had created consumer demand. Fewer than 2,000 homes in the UK have the photovoltaic (PV) panels fitted. In Germany, the world leader, the figure is closer to 200,000.

Customers would get an in-store consultation followed by a free assessment to check whether their properties were suitable, Currys said. Consumers who generate more electricity than they use can sell the excess into the national grid.

PV panels are already available through specialist suppliers, but Currys said people would be more willing to buy them from a major brand.

Householders could get up to half the cost refunded through a government scheme to help people green their houses. Kirk Archibald, who administers the grant programme for the Energy Saving Trust, said some £1.5m of the £6m set aside to pay for projects over the next three years has been spent since it started in May.